Magnetic exchange force microscopy is a novel noncontact atomic-force microscopy based technique to image the arrangement of magnetic moments at surfaces with atomic resolution using sharp magnetic tips. Recent results obtained with iron coated silicon tips on two magnetically different antiferromagnetic surfaces are reviewed: NiO(001), an insulator, where the spin-carrying d-electrons are localized and interact via superexchange and Fe/W(001), a metal with delocalized spin-carrying d-electrons. The experimental findings are discussed with respect to the tip configuration, the role of an applied magnetic field, the magnitude of the magnetic signal as well as the interplay between chemical and magnetic forces.